“Zionism has never been and is not one thing.”
Israel
Sign of a divided country: Israel’s military to begin drafting ultra-Orthodox
Israeli military is about to begin drafting the ultra-Orthodox. This is a really bad idea–and a sign of cultural division.
A Palestinian Baptist laments the Southern Baptist Convention’s decisions on the Middle East
Daoud Kuttab is an award-winning Palestinian journalist and a member of Amman Baptist Church in Jordan. He runs a news website that covers the Christian community in Jordan and the Palestinian territories. He is also a 1975 graduate of Messiah […]
Zack Beauchamp: “It’s time to take back the Israel-Palestine debate from the radicals on both sides”
Here Beauchamp at VOX: You may have heard of Shai Davidai, the Israeli professor at Columbia University who has launched a crusade against the school’s pro-Palestinian protestors. He’s rocketed to fame by calling students terrorists, comparing himself to Jewish victims of Nazi Germany, and demanding the […]
Columbia University moves classes online amid pro-Palestinian protests
Here is CBS News: Protests at Columbia University over the Israel-Hamas war are entering their sixth day Monday, sparking more safety concerns for students on campus. Columbia University President Minouche Shafik announced classes will be remote Monday, “To deescalate the rancor and […]
Six months after October 7th, where are the remaining 100+ hostages?
This Sunday marks six months since the Hamas attack on Israel. What will happen to the remaining 100+ hostages still in captivity?
Christian Zionism is “one of the most successful…interfaith movements in the modern world”
If you want to understand Christian Zionism, evangelicals’ understanding of Israel, or dispensationalism, you need to be familiar with the work of historian Daniel Hummel. (Check out his work at Current here and our podcast interview with him here). In […]
Sellouts
Schumer’s call for new elections in Israel is nothing short of cowardly politics.
Why are so many Israelis silent about Palestinian suffering?
Oded Na’aman, a philosophy professor at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, provides the numbers: Around 1,200 Israelis were killed on October 7, of them around 370 soldiers and 800 civilians; 242 Israeli soldiers have been killed since Israel’s offensive began; 239 […]
Just how progressive is Pennsylvania senator John Fetterman?
Can a politician still be a “progressive” in today’s Democratic Party if he supports Israel and wants restrictions at the southern border? Adam Gabbatt of The Guardian tackles this question in a piece on Fetterman. Here is a taste: There […]
Walzer: “Oppressed people can do no wrong” is an “old, bad argument”
Veteran political theorist Michael Walzer has a word or two for his fellow leftists. Here is a taste of his piece at The Atlantic: After the Hamas attack on Israel October 7, an old, bad argument resurfaced. In the streets of […]
Israel-based progressive intellectuals and peace activists call for a “return to a politics based on humanistic and universal principles”
Several dozen Israeli-based academic progressives and peace activists have signed this letter. They are correct to suggest that the usual identity politics we often hear coming out of colleges and universities seem hollow in the wake of October 7, 2023. […]
More than 700 children dead in Gaza; 2,450 injured
Here is CNN: More than 700 children have been killed in Gaza and another 2,450 have been injured since last Saturday, according to the United Nations Children’s Fund, citing local sources. “According to the latest reports by local health authorities and […]
U.S. intelligence doubts that Iran was directly involved in the Hamas attack on Israel, but a full conclusion on the matter is pending
CNN is reporting: The United States has collected specific intelligence that casts doubt on the idea that Iran was directly involved in the planning, resourcing or approving of Saturday’s bloody attack on Israel by Hamas, according to several sources familiar with the intelligence. Still, […]
Palestinian Christian journalist: It’s time for the U.S. to recognize a Palestinian state
Daoud Kuttab is a Palestinian Christian and award-winning journalist who was the first Palestinian to interview former Israeli prime ministers Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres. He has spent much of his career fighting for a free media in Palestine under […]
The New York Times: “America’s duty as Israel’s friend is to stand firm in its support”
A taste of yesterday’s New York Times editorial page: President Biden is right to express America’s full support for Israel at this painful moment. The United States, as its closest ally, has a critical role to play. Moderate Israeli opposition leaders said […]
Jonathan Greenblatt of the Anti-Defamation League rips MSNBC over its coverage of the Hamas-Israeli war
Greenblatt is angry. He should be. David French is right. Moral clarity indeed:
Michael Oren: Don’t compare the current Israel-Hamas war to the Yom Kippur War of 1973
Since war broke out in Israel and the Gaza strip over the weekend, writers and journalists are comparing it to the 1973 Yom Kippur War. (For those unfamiliar with the Yom Kippur War of 1973, get up to speed here.) […]
Former Harvard president Lawrence Summers on the school’s silence on the Israel-Hamas war
In an earlier post today I noted that 31 Harvard University student groups have blamed the ongoing Israeli-Hamas war entirely on Israel. Lawrence Summers, the former president of Harvard University and Secretary of the Treasury at the end of the […]
What I am reading and watching to stay up to speed on the Israeli-Hamas war
Nothing very systematic or comprehensive here, but I’ve found these pieces helpful as I process all of this: Heather Cox Richardson offers a nice summary. We have already called your attention to this BBC explainer piece. Joe Biden condemns the […]